Indian Gaming is a mobile first market, with handheld gaming revenues at $150 million

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In an effort to provide a comprehensive overview of the Indian Games industry, The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today released a report titled the ‘Indian Games Market Review’ at the NASSCOM Gaming Developer Conference 2015 taking place in in Pune. The report aims to provide an overview of the Indian media & entertainment industry and digital landscape, showcasing the history and evolution of the Indian games industry, an assessment of the Indian games market from consumer spending and demographic insights into the Indian gamer.

Talking about the findings of the report, NASSCOM President, R Chandrashekhar said, “To provide a holistic picture of the growing gaming landscape in India, NASSCOM interviewed the key players to conducted an extensive survey of the Indian developer and service provider ecosystem. The report provides a road map to start-up’s, Indies and investors based on internet usage patterns, mobile smartphones and tablets, to digital media and mobile advertising.”

According to the report, mobile gamers lead the market in India, with a Smartphone install base estimated at 200 million by the end of 2015 that is estimated to grow by 100 million each year thereafter. Approximately 40 to 50 million people play games on their smartphones and feature phones, with an annual growth rate of 40% to 50%. Mobile gaming revenues are currently estimated at $150 million across all revenue models. Additionally, the console market size, is estimated to be around 3 – 4 million gamers, with 3 – 3.5 million of lifetime sales for all consoles including PlayStation 2 (2 million) and 100,000 units for PlayStation 4 and XBox One combined. The cyber cafe market is currently estimated at 3000 cafes in India with games, of which 1500 have 5 machines or more dedicated to games. It’s estimated that there are 250,000 active PC/MMO players, with popular games including Counterstrike, DOTA, League of Legends and World of Tanks.

On the content creation side, the report outlines a young industry that has changed dramatically in the last five years and now includes over 200 games development studios and service providers. The advent of self-publishing, investment and crowdfunding, has led to a new breed of agile indie developers, whose focus is on mobile and PC social games. More than half of Indian Game Developers and Service Providers were established from 2012 onwards and the industry follows a lean structure, with 57% of companies having less than 10 employees and in 2014, 27% of all Indian Game Developers and Service Providers had revenues of above $1.6 million. The report further states that, 75% of Indian developers are focused on building games for the global gaming market. 96% of developers work on mobile games, with 61% of those building free-to-play games. Among studios, arcade games are the most popular genre, followed by puzzle and racing releases.

Currently most game developers and service providers in India are focused on the global market, with development, game art services and animation being the main sources of revenue. Approximately 9% generate revenue from the domestic market, while foreign games dominate the app store rankings. With recent developments such as Apple and Google lowering the minimum price for apps and in-app purchases in India, the report expects more Indian companies to turn their focus towards the Indian market in the future.

On the sidelines of the NASSCOM Gaming Developer Conference 2015, NASSCOM also announced the winners of the NGF AWARDS 2015, to evangelize the community in India and recognize their achievements in Game development and encourage the creation of IP. The Winners are: